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Land Sea & Sky

by Blyth Power

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    Track 13 is a bonus song exclusively available when you purchase the album.
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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 14 Blyth Power releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Going Down With Alice, Red Wedding, The Power Behind The Throne, Women and Horses, Power and War, Land Sea & Sky, Fall Of Iron, On The Viking Station, The Bricklayer's Arms, and 6 more. , and , .

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1.
Down on the street the trumpets blew As a thousand bedraggled standards flew But the drum beat’s pattern never changed As a clamouring rose from the street outside The council fell to their knees and cried With the peasants we must treat without delay But there are rights for man and a rule of law There’s one for the rich and one for the poor And one for a king that God anointed made In consequence negotiations I disdain Marie-Antoinette concurred If they have no bread the Queen observed And won’t eat cake feed them hay But let them shout and let them starve While they cut the world in half To our chamber let us take ourselves away Then hand in hand to the brandy cask We matched each other glass for glass Kicked off our shoes composed ourselves to pray Then it was all night through and the livelong day Beneath royal courtly charms we lay And thanks for all our blessings gave While the people fought the people roared Shook their fists at the palace walls Broke the door and the bars gave way And they found us there in deepest dreams Conscience clear in sleep serene In the sunbeam’s blessed rays Then a messenger came from the outer wall Pressed his face to the marble floor Excuse my intrusion majesties But your guards are fighting hand to hand In the western halls and the barbican I deem it meet and prudent now to leave But Marie-Ann the Queen and I Sent him back to the walls to die Took to our bed and dismissed the chambermaid
2.
Heart Of Me 07:24
See the light arise behind the chosen one That misbegotten once I knew as brother friend and son Whom destiny despises now his course is run But when we were young I gave him his tongue Like feathers thrown together on the breath of God Nor spoiled him with kisses nor spared the rod But patient with pentameters his poet’s feet shod To tread the sod where his master trod From lantern light to sun-up after curfew’s call From St. Katherine’s Wheel in Southwark To the churchyard at St Paul’s To Thespia and Necropolis we made our landfall We kept no score we shared them all Come sweet breath flow strong Flow deep flow free from the heart of me Long life lief live long Let me live long in life and laughter In life and love and laughter linger on Flow deep flow free from the heart of me ‘til my work is done Flow deep flow free from the heart of me But time begets infinity and the world must change Where once we danced together now blows exchanged As factions fell around us at the court of King James We fought for gain we felt no shame So each to his ambition we sacrifices gave I through verse and gravity my fortune made While he became a courtier his muse betrayed She wept with rage she swore he’d pay Then through Jacobean palaces her fury tore Consigned him to the clergy a poet no more And as I became her confidant she became my law We swept we soared she wept no more Swallows fly from everything you do Angels keep their distance Summer suns are glowing over everyone but you Once you and I had fish to fry But now there’s only bitter leaves to chew She and I together then forever went away In riches and in poverty in bed we lay And never reminisce about the bygone days About when we were young Now menopausal virgins flock around him everyday They cluster at his pulpit where to his keen dismay The rotten hocks of their devotions at his feet they lay They kneel they pray, they will have their way Come sweet breath flow strong
3.
Charles King of England ill fortune favoured thee Who wore the crown and bore the sceptre undeservedly Who left a son behind him that escaped across the sea To return and raise the Scots against the parliamentaries Lured south by guile and strategy With Worcester standing by Outmatched and outmanoeuvred The prince was forced to fly With many a mile to travel over many a mile to fly Through many a hostile dawn Concealed from many a watchful eye Send the hounds around the hills Make the people ring the bells Search the houses and the fields Reward the person first prepared to tell the tale Where to seek and where to find the royal heir Where to seek and where to find the Prince of Wales With Matty Col and Tabitha I tracked the villain down That all in a hollow oak tree in a forest glade was found While his faithful old retainer Stripped the branches all around And searched for grubs and beetles In the leaf mould on the ground I advanced into the clearing I addressed the royal tree I deplore the use of force I said to intemperate degrees But there’s a cell in Worcester Castle Measures seven foot by three My orders are to place you there and throw away the key To Matty Col and Tabitha I said now we’ll have some fun And we beat and bit and kicked him ‘Til his royal senses spun And his trousers stuffed with nettles ‘til his royal jelly stung His face was caked and bleeding His clothes in tatters hung As he wept and begged for mercy sore amazed was I to see The son of a king knelt grovelling before the likes of me He offered his servant up for favours Money his ransom for to pay If we’d betray the axe of parliament And send him on his way
4.
Winter her fingers slender and pale Pinching and squeezing attends to her freezing affairs Hinting and teasing through long early evenings unveils In the frost on the windows etched by her nails Triptychs and pictures in intricate detail and scale That all her affections declare Under the roses after the thaw The grass has grown thicker and greener than ever before Time blew the dust from the garden in under the door And superimposes in the cracks on the wall A face I can barely remember the last time I saw And a voice that I clearly recall Follow the band follow the band all the way Give me a trumpet and show me the measures to play Follow the band follow the band all the way Over the rooftops and houses and over the stray By green fields grown over at the foot of the town Wry quarryman’s eyes appraising the lie of the ground As playfully braided the raindrops come spiralling round Bracken and clover silently bowed With love and esteem and affection laying him down Down the avenue forming the funeral cars In procession are waiting the mourners preparing to march Lined at the roadside concealing their tattoos and scars Will feel better come morning better by far For Johnny come lately the music is ready to start Cast off your halo we’ll find you a space at the bar From the shop on the corner the way to the stars Is winding uphill but the gradient isn’t so hard And you’re welcome wherever you are Now Winter rekindled is paradise gained She was up and rose early and softly she went on her way Says she’ll be back with the evening to see me again The smell of her lingered and all through the day With the sky through the window overcast leaden and grey Touched by her presence I lay
5.
House Of War 04:51
Morning breaks the sunlight's gilded glare Knife in hand and cold unyielding stare Creeps up from behind the unaware Sets the weak in motion and the sleeping sentry scares But I've been up for hours and I'm prepared To fall into squares I saw Esau trying on the crown I saw the lion and the lamb lie down Together in the heather where the bracken is brown In clean rows the bright rain flows About the green svelte hills on the spires and the towers The cracks in the crumbling wall And the guard at the gatehouse door At home in the House of War Night time leads her agents down the range Gnat bites try my patience and spiders escalade Rats and mice direct their black brigade And the seeping narrow trenches are secret shallow graves Where shadows dance and spectres masquerade And call out for aid Ulstermen are marching out of bounds Holy wars and trumpets shake the ground Heat-seeking missiles shoot me down Patient men in ski-masks wait in quiet foreign towns But my full metal jacket keeps me sound As I fall to the ground
6.
Pitiful the figure now you see Backed into a corner out of hunger out of need I am forced to kiss the gentle hand that feeds And of charity to lick the very dirt upon her feet And while the artist trapped inside me stifles screams To every simpering syphilitic soul a sycophant I’ve been Writing even begging letters to the Queen When times were lean To Apollo I offered a prayer today I’ve offered to be his bride Promised the earth if he’ll bless the stage Succour my art with a patron’s grace And method and means provide To Apollo I offered a prayer today I’ve offered to stand aside If only his backers will save the day I’ll give him artistic rein to play And swallow my bleeding pride To Apollo I offered a prayer today I offered to see him right I offered him bonds I offered him stocks Offered a seat in a private box If only he’ll take my side But I’ve just grown more bitter every day Intermittent medication hasn’t helped to ease the pain That every week and every hour of every day Cuts me to the quick with every unsuccessful play With every flaw in every plan with each delay With every resolution shaken through my epigrams betrayed I have sworn I have promised and I have raged For that I crave Apollo has promised to name the day He’s checking the moon and tides He’s offered me all he’s offered me fame The book of the film the computer game And laurels from every side Apollo has promised to name the day As soon as the runes decide He’s offered the lot he’s offered the whole Offered me Kemp in a starring role And even the critics to bribe Apollo has promised to name the day He’s offered a diamond mine The belly to please the groin the gut Serial rights a director’s cut As soon as the contract’s signed Now I must not demean or deride All the vicious witticisms that my critics have designed But with pity and with understanding mind I consign my bitter enemies to a higher court in time Where they will naked stand to tremble and opine And submit themselves to judgement Just as they have others tried And be stricken out and crushed and dealt in kind And cast aside And since this dainty age cannot endure reproof Slake not thyself with rage but quit the loathed stage Soar high and aloof Safe from the wolf’s black jaw and the dull ass’s hoof
7.
Sister Helena has cast off her veil Hung up her habit abandoned her cell She’s run away from the priory bells Her vows and virtues forsaking She’s rented a house on the Yarlington road There in the ever-green garden to grow Lichens and ivy and stools for the toads And mosses for poultices making So don’t tell me lies If your alibi isn’t watertight Tell me where were you on Saturday night That’s when I saw you under the yellow street light With the Devil and Sister Helena Of Sister Helena the ladies believe That her left foot is cloven she walks in her sleep That naked by moonlight she dances with beasts But no one can claim to have seen her But there’s rumour there’s hearsay and travellers tales That she’s taken in tomcats and cowry shells For mustering magic and murmuring spells To answer the Devil’s subpoena Behind Flemish lace curtains they’re venting their spleen They’ll be wagging their tongues as they’re pouring the tea So it’s best if you’re not in her company seen It just breeds conjecture and scandal And you won’t be forgiven you won’t be excused For they haven’t much patience they haven’t much use For a bird in the bush because what’s sauce for the goose Is a kick in the balls for the gander
8.
Naseby 04:03
Oh wherefore come ye forth In all your triumph from the north With your hands and with your feet And with your raiment red And wherefore doth your rout send forth a joyous shout And whence be the grapes of the vintage that ye tread Oh evil was the root and bitter was the fruit And crimson were the juices of the wine-press that we trod For we trampled on the throng of the haughty and the strong Who sate in the high places and slew the saints of God Where be your tongues that late mocked At heaven and hell and fate And the fingers that once were so busy with your blades Your perfumed satin clothes your catches and your oaths Your sonnets and your stage plays Your diamonds and your spades It was early afternoon of a glorious day in June When we saw their banners dance and their cuirasses shine And the man of blood was there with his long essenced hair And Astley and Sir Marmaduke and Rupert of the Rhine Like the servant of the Lord with a bible and a sword Our Generals strode among us to perform the rites When a murmuring broke out that swelled into a shout From among the Godless horsemen Down upon the Tyrant’s right Their heads all stooping low their points all in a row Like a whirlwind on the trees like a deluge on the dikes Our cavalrymen have burst on the ranks of the accurst And at a shock have scattered all the forest of his pikes Fast fast the gallants ride in some safe nook to hide Those coward heads we’ll set to rot on Temple Bar And him he turns he flies shame on those cruel eyes That bore to look on torture and dare not look on war And the See of seven hills shall mourn her children's ills And tremble when she thinks upon our English sword And the kings of Earth in fear Shall shudder when they hear What the hand of God hath riven For the houses and the word
9.
Dawn a secret shy and cold In shades of grey bereft of gold Stole across the border Caressed awake and morning-eyed She daily through the frontier glides And her papers are in order She left me with an empty room By bottle glass and smoke consumed When duty came to call her Now the children on the stairways speak in whispers In the stalag-light you’re never quite at home With the watchers and the waiters and the listeners On the wire-tapped phone Scarlet poppies blaze in Autumn fields Where idle soldiers kick their heels Now no one wants to know them Murals fade along the wall Where cold war tourists come no more Now there’s nothing left to show them Don’t get sympathy confused with understanding When bitterness is bred into the bone It’s indiscriminate obtrusive and demanding And it’s better left alone Now Nightfall leads her labour gangs Uneasy east of no man’s land Where dangerous men are working Step we gaily onward so the voyeurs and the panders go To peep behind the curtain Where Karpov ceding endless games Caught and forced to mate again Lays down beneath his burden They have gallows-hands to clap you on the shoulder And tarot cards to show you where to go If you’re worried that your welcome’s getting colder As the fire burns low But I’m tired of evasions of dangerous liaisons In station after station after station And I’m tired of waiting of indetermination In station after station after station Impatient for the last train That will take me back to where someone is waiting
10.
The Mermaid 03:19
It was Friday night when we set sail And our ship not far from land I there did spy a fair pretty maid With a comb and a glass in her hand Then up spoke the little cabin boy I was bound for Botany But if you can’t tell a yard from a mizzen or a spar Then you never should have run away to sea No you never should have run away to sea Then up from the poop of our gallant ship Cried the helmsman plaintively Some rum or some spice or some coffee would be nice Or a little dry bread if you please But I don’t want the butter or the cheese Then up spoke the captain of our gallant ship Through his lantern jaw spoke he I have daughters to spare and they are beautiful and fair And tonight they a-sleeping will be They’ll be sleeping with anyone they see Then up spoke the bronzed bare-chested figurehead Lashed to the prow was she If you don’t get a grip on your leaky little ship You’ll be lost forever said she Until you’re tossed up together by the sea Then three times round went our gallant ship Three times round went she Three times three times round went our gallant ship And she sank to the bottom of the sea Then we sank to the bottom of the sea And the raging seas did roll And the stormy winds did blow There were we jolly sailor boys sitting up aloft And the landlubbers lying down below
11.
Phillip Duke of Anjou I'm happy to kneel beside you To witness the burden you bear Silently bowing in prayer My painted plasterwork peer Has been down on his knees for six hundred years The courts are reviewing his case And they want me to stand in his place And it probably won't be easy What if they see right through me What then can the ticket inspector do I'm willing to come to terms with you But it probably won't be easy What if they don't believe me The defenders of Burghfield mill Fell to Ireton’s disciplined drill I was a bystander there I averted my gaze and muttered a prayer Ireton said to me You are temperate pious and clean So if your conscience stands in accord We will be happy to have you aboard Now where's the man with the smile In a two bedroomed flat in Carlisle Or does he move in circles we know From Hammersmith Broadway to Greenwood Road Is Dickon his familiar still Does his ghost stalk Burghfield mill Does he court Jehovah with lies When he turns up the eggs of his eyes Now he gets up with the sun To shovel his sixteen tons And the frost is as stolid as nails To splinter the sleepers and shatter the rails Remember whatever the cost You’ve got to burn all the bridges you crossed Because the Devils you’ve yet to behold Are better by far than the Devils you know
12.
The boat touched the land The spangled stone strand that rimmed the bay From the deep mid-Atlantic Salt flecked the foam and the spray There were red-coated soldiers there Waiting to take me away And sea pinks and boulders on hand to attend our parade Land sea and sky all my horizons defined Land sea and sky Here on my island are all my uprisings confined Makeshift meals come and go With the ebb and the flow of the tide Brought by garrulous guardsmen to garrison duty assigned Last year’s campaigners haggard and hung out to dry On the ragged stone ramparts That are pock-marked and speckled with flies Land sea and sky all my horizons defined To land sea and sky before my arrival resigned Land sea and sky Before my arrival more able and wiser was I The first sea lord has closed the channel ports Behind the barriers our battered groups withdrew Now towards points north the telegraph reports Our slate grey ships are on the move Land sea and sky along the horizon they slide Land sea and sky along the horizon Storm clouds are rising tonight The home fleet weighed and Nelson Hood and Drake On station set to seaward once again Now all around the coast the armour-plated ghosts Of ironclads are rattling their chains Over land sea and sky from all four horizons arrive Land sea and sky from all our horizons For our survival provide The dreadnoughts lay in rows Across the breadth of Scapa Flow From Rammersey to Hoy and Barrow sound All my old friends were there Superb and Temeraire Ramilles Ark Royal and Renown Now the land sea and sky to all four horizons are mine Land sea and sky to all four horizons Turn into diamonds and shine

about

Blyth Power celebrate their 25th anniversary with their longest ever studio recording which at 63 minutes is almost as long as the amount of time fabled lost guitarist was actually in the band. Look out for some surprises on this recording, and let's see what the next 25 years have to offer.

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released August 28, 2009

All songs by Joseph Porter and arranged by Blyth Power

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Blyth Power UK

Since 1984 Blyth Power have been playing and recording original music, which although regarded by many as fitting into the folk rock catergory goes so much further. Based around the lyrics of songwriter Joseph Porter, the band's sound is unique, and there is an atmosphere to Blyth Power that adds a depth to the music, and makes them more than just another pop group. ... more

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